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Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin did more than any other artist to bring the forms and spirit of African-American gospel music into the popular arena. Franklin possesses one of the finest voices in the world and, throughout the late 1960s and the 1970s, she created a stream of hit records that helped define black popular music of the time. Whatever labels, "soul," or "rhythm and blues," or "rock and roll," are placed on her music, Franklin was the primary force in combining the sound and feeling of one major American art form with another.

The history of African American music has been characterized by cross-pollination among various forms. Country blues, urban blues, New Orleans Jazz, Bebop, big-band jazz, and rhythm and blues, have all influenced each other profoundly. These influences flowed back and forth among the various forms. But, black gospel music had only a very limited effect on popular styles, until a few church-trained artists, such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, began to incorporate gospel styling into their popular work. The result of these efforts is usually described as "soul music," an amalgam of blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel voices. But, if Ray Charles was one of the "originators" of soul music, "Aretha Franklin reshaped it," by bringing even more of her gospel background to bear on secular love songs (Wade and Picardie 27). By combining popular elements with her stunning voice, her great musicianship, and the feeling for a song that she learned in church, Franklin became one of the great innovators in popular music, and one of its finest artists.

Franklin was born on March 25, 1942. Her father, the Reverence C. L. Franklin, was the pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. With 4,500 members, New Bethel was one of the largest congregations in the city. Her mother, Barbara, was an accomplished gospel singer who deserted the family when Aretha was 6 years old. Barbara Franklin died only 4 years later. ...

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Aretha Franklin. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:05, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1681865.html